Black and Basel with Melissa Hunter Davis of Sugarcane Magazine

Melissa Hunter Davis is the editor-in-chief and publisher of Sugarcane Magazine, a national arts publication focusing on Black creativity. As an engaged publisher in the contemporary art world, Melissa has truly forged her own path uplifting artists, writers and stories rooted in the African Diaspora. Through her curatorial lens, she has inspired and empowered viewers to read, be curious, and learn about artists in the local Miami community and beyond.

In a series of conversations, Melissa shares her thoughts on how the idea of Sugarcane came to be and her connections to the people, places, and spaces that make up this vibrant ecology in South Florida. Watch as she takes us to African Heritage Cultural Arts Center and N’Namdi Contemporary to explore her journey through the arts, and examines the role of arts writing as community building with artist Mark Delmont.

For Miami Art Week, Sugarcane published The Black and Basel 2023: The Black Art Guide. This year, Melissa takes a personal approach, highlighting a curated list of artists, art fairs, and spaces she knows she will visit and hopes you do too.

She writes, “the list ‘Black and Basel’ was my way of helping [readers] find Black artists that you may not typically think you would see in spaces that didn’t always actively embrace a Black artist.”

Included are the much-anticipated exhibitions of Gary Simmons at Perez Art Museum and Charles Gaines at ICA, Gimme Shelter at the Historic Hampton House and various public art pieces in Opa-Locka.

Explore the guide in this LINK. Learn more about Sugarcane Magazine at sugarcanemag.com.

Filmed by Jorge Gonzalez Graupera in summer 2023.